Grumpy Old Dev Feb 24, 2023
Geoffrey A. Fowler

New by me @washingtonpost:

"That's a great Facebook account you've got there. It'd be a shame if something happened to it."

Facebook & Twitter asking us to pay for basic account security & service reminds me of a mob protection racket.

Shame on this $$$ grab: https://wapo.st/3xOJucE

Facebook’s new $12 fee is straight out of Don Corleone’s playbook

Big Tech’s new business model is making you pay for security and basic customer service. That’s called a protection racket when mobsters do it.

The Washington Post
Feb 23, 2023 at 7:32pmWeb
Show threadCovidiocracyFeb 23, 2023
@geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost Shame on anyone who pays the protection money.
Show threadJohn BreenFeb 23, 2023
@geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost I've got a better idea - Zuck and Musk can pay ME to engage with their platform. $77/mo is my price, and I retain the right to modify my ToS at any time.
Show threadKaren StrickholmFeb 23, 2023
@geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost I recently left both. Turns out I don't miss either one. They have outlived their usefulness in my life. Mastodon meets my social media needs, and I love not being algorithmed-at!
Show threadEsther2007Feb 23, 2023
@geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost I'm trying to remember back to when we all paid for the internet - through AOL or Prodigy. Was it better then? I think making everything free was part of the problem. I mean, you get what you pay for.
Show threadAndreas KFeb 24, 2023
@Esther2007 @geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost You still pay your ISP, don't you?
Show threadEsther2007Feb 24, 2023
@yacc143 @geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost Yes, but it's not a gatekeeper in the same way those other services were.
Show threadAndreas KFeb 24, 2023
@Esther2007 @geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost Not sure, AFAIK, people used AOL exactly for that, as a dial in ISP, in times when ISPs asked for an hourly fee, and AOL was so nice to distribute kits with n hours of free dial in time (first floppies, than CDs) around the US?
Show threadJohn Bell 🇺🇦🇪🇺🔸🕷️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Feb 23, 2023
@geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost @drewharwell
Twitter: I wonder if we can get people to pay for things that they used to get for free.
Facebook: hold my beer
Show threadThe Evil MicrowizardFeb 23, 2023
@geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost For the paywalled: https://archive.ph/Q2h4x
Show threadCubeOfCheeseFeb 24, 2023
@geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost yikes!